REDLINE SPORTS comes to Fort Lauderdale in January 2013

REDLINE SPORTS

REDLINE SPORTS Family Entertainment Centers, Fun Centers, Amusement Parks and Children’s Entertainment Centers – the resources you are looking for to design, build, open and operate a successful family entertainment center business.

Having worked in the indoor playground business for many years with as many different manufacturers, we have a unique perspective of both the operators side of the indoor play business, as well as the manufacturers side of the business.

On this site, we focus on helping new developers and new amusement buyers navigate their way through the many challenges and hurdles of starting an indoor fun center and the business of indoor playgrounds, the manufacturing of indoor play and the risks and rewards of finding and working with quality playground companies and service providers.

When I first started in the business it was mid 1990 and the hey-day of indoor playground centers and these fancy new tubes, climbs, and jumbo indoor slides made of brightly colored plastic and filled with screaming crawling and sliding kids… oh what fun it was. Times were good – commission checks were high, competition was low, innovative design was happening everyday and we were having a blast creating good work.

Ten years later and the scene is still happening, just at a different pace, budget and with a lot of new choice. However, in order to do good business the same principles apply as they did then;

1) Innovate to keep ahead of the pack.
2)Be safety conscious and value-based.
3)Provide strong play-a-bility with a diverse set of activities.

Unfortunately as often happens in a ripe market opportunity, newcomers and ‘wanna-be’ me too manufacturers come into the game. To establish themselves, they often offer discount pricing under the guise of ‘factory direct’, or ‘boutique’ type marketing spin. But at what cost? As with any manufacturing process, your hard costs, materials and labor costs are all relevant to your business and comparable to other manufacturers in the industry.

This then creates a dilemma. Where does the new company cut back to under-cut the established vendors? In the indoor playground business it is the quality of construction, the quality of materials, safety compliance or lack of registered support, ie; proper insurance coverage that can provide corner cutting and “cost savings we pass on to you”.

Indoor playground manufacturers are deemed new if they are less than a few years old. As with every new business, failure most likely occurs within the first 4-5 years of operations. Before making a financial commitment to any playground manufacturer, make sure they have been around awhile and can offer support documentation to demonstrate that they WILL be around for a long while longer. Let your competitor on the other side of town use the new guys, without proper insurance coverage or factory direct savings passed on to you bull-hockey, his business is less important than your business.

 

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